Tuesday, January 18, 3pm

The university reached an agreement to assign the FCC license for radio frequency 90.3 FM to Classical Public Radio Network, which is launching a non-commercial classical music station in the Bay Area. CPRN is owned by University of Southern California.

If you are concerned (or pissed) about this then you should show up at USF on Wednesday, January 19th at 7pm in front of the Fromm Building (660 Parker Ave. between Fulton and Golden Gate Ave.)

Miranda is organizing the media event at USF and she needs support. She’s working at Noc Noc Bar tonight (557 Haight Street between Fillmore and Steiner) so drop in and offer help, ideas or suggestions if any of you have time.

Here’s the official word (to my understanding they turned the station off and changed the locks this morning):

The University of San Francisco (USF) announced today that KUSF, the university’s radio station, is moving to an online only format, effective immediately. The university has reached an agreement to assign the FCC license for radio frequency 90.3 FM to Classical Public Radio Network, which is launching a non-commercial classical music station in the Bay Area. CPRN is owned by University of Southern California.

The call letters KUSF were not sold, and the KUSF logo and all music inventory will remain USF property. All KUSF staff will be offered similar positions at KUSF.org.

The move to online-only distribution gives KUSF a powerful opportunity to grow its worldwide audience. Previously, the station was limited to 100 online listeners at a time, but capacity will be increased to accommodate thousands of listeners.

The station will go dark briefly for necessary engineering work. It is possible the electrical work could take several days.

As it shifts to an online-only format, USF will focus on the station’s primary purpose as a teaching laboratory for students. The university is evaluating ways to improve the student learning experience and enhance its curriculum in digital media and audio production. USF is also pleased to announce that CPRN will make internships available to qualified USF students interested in radio broadcasting.

USF will invest the proceeds from the sale to support its mission, and will continue to offer a valuable learning experience for its media students. USF is pleased that it can also help ensure the long-term presence of high-quality classical music programming in the Bay Area. The sale must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

For more information, contact Gary McDonald, at 415.422.2699 or mcdonald@usfca.edu.